Search form

Wind Blows Away Bansko Downhill

by

USSA

2012-02-25 06:00

High winds delayed the women's downhill start in Bansko three and a half hours before the jury officially canceled the race (Getty Images/AFP - Dimitar Dilkoff)

BANSKO, Bulgaria (Feb. 25) - After three and a half hours of delays, the jury officially canceled the women's Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill in Bansko due to inconsistent high winds that blew up and down the mountain. Regardless of the scrapped race, Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) had already locked her fifth consecutive women's downhill title and all six U.S. Ski Team downhillers qualified for the March 11-18 World Cup Finals in Schladming, Austria.

HIGHLIGHTS

Despite three and a half hours of delays, high winds claimed the women's downhill in Bansko.

A super G is slated for Sunday in Bansko with winds expected to calm down for the race.

Vonn holds a slim 20 point lead in the super G standings over Austrian Anna Fenninger.

QUOTESAlex Hoedlmoer, Head CoachIn the morning there was no chance at all and as the day went on the gusts became less consistent, but they were still really strong. If we did go, it would have been just such an unfair and unsafe race. Sometimes it was coming from behind and sometimes it was a headwind.

Even without today's race, we got everybody in the World Cup Finals, that is pretty cool. Having the whole team there, six of them, that is pretty sweet and a huge testament to the hard work of the athletes and our coaches.

The wind is looking like it should calm down for tomorrow, but we're now expecting some snow. It would be a bummer to come all the way to Bulgaria for a pair of downhill training runs.